1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to telephones and, more particularly, to telephone systems using telephone headsets.
2. Background of the Invention
Operation of wired (wireline) telephones using headsets is increasingly common because of the ability of a user to perform other operations while conducting a telephone conversation. In conventional devices, a user can answer a corded telephone by picking up a handset, such as a corded handset, to release a hook switch in a telephone base cradle as normally done, which places the phone off-hook. Headsets can be linked either wirelessly or through wires to the corded phone, wherein when a handset of the corded phone goes off-hook, the speakers and microphone of the headset are operational to conduct a conversation over the phone line connected to the corded phone. For example, in the operation of some corded phones in conjunction with a headset, if the headset wearer receives an incoming ring tone at the corded phone, the headset wearer can lift the handset receiver off the cradle of the corded phone base, placing the phone off-hook, and then proceed to conduct the telephone call through the headset without using the corded handset. Thereby, the user is free to perform other operations. For example, after answering an incoming call at the telephone base, a wireless headset user could move anywhere within a wireless communications range enabled by the wireless link between the headset and phone base while the call is being conducted.
However, such a system places a burden on the headset user to lift the corded handset off-hook to receive an incoming call and to replace the corded handset in the cradle at the end of a call.
For horizontal corded phones in which the handset rests on a base in a horizontal position, known devices have been developed to lift a corded handset off-hook to respond to a telephone call. For example, GN Netcom of Copenhagen, Denmark produces the GN 1000 handset lifter. The lifter in such known devices provides a bar or platform that raises the handset above the telephone base. The lifter is positioned underneath the area of a handset that is normally grasped by a user's hand. When the platform rises to a sufficient vertical height, it engages the handset from beneath and lifts the entire handset in a vertical direction as the platform further rises. Eventually, the handset is raised to a sufficient height above the telephone base that the hook switch (also termed “switch hook” herein) in the base cradle rises up from the cradle and the telephone goes off-hook.
One disadvantage of such a device is that the device places the handset and lifter platform in a position that is vulnerable to accidents when the phone goes off-hook. During a telephone conversation, the handset rests on the platform or bar suspended above the base of the telephone and completely out of the cradle. A passerby or falling object could inadvertently strike the handset and possibly break the lifter mechanism. Moreover, the lifter mechanism requires power sufficient to lift the entire weight of the handset from the cradle to a suspended position each time the phone goes off-hook.